Smallville Tales
by EmpressV
Summary: Stories, in no particular order, about the Smallville kids before they were angsty teens.
1. The Kissing Party

Title: The Kissing Party  
Author: EV empressvader01@hotmail.com  
Rating: G  
Pairing: Lana/Pete, Clark/Lana (implied)  
Setting: Pre-series Fic  
Summary: Twelve year old Pete and Lana go to a party and experience an important first. But will Pete tell Clark what happened?  
Disclaimer: Superman/Smallville belong to DC comics/the WB.  
Feedback: I live and breath the stuff.   
  
  
"What do you mean you can't go Clark," Pete said jumping down off the porch rail. Sometimes Clark thought Pete wanted to fly and decided to jump from higher and higher places until he proved it could be done.   
  
"I mean I can't go," Clark said walking down the steps where he and Pete met and began the walk to the baseball diamond.   
  
"But Lana's going to be there man," Pete said. "It's your chance to make your move. Getting girls is like... well... baseball. If you're in the game, at least you have a chance of hitting that home run, if you never show up, well, you're not getting that home run for sure."  
  
The way twelve year old Pete talked, you'd think he was an experienced player. And that he had dated for years. But Clark knew better. Interest in the opposite sex was new and neither had or had had a girlfriend anyway.  
  
"First of all, I always hit a home run."  
  
"Yeah, unless Lana's nearby."  
  
"That's the thing, Lana's not a game. Besides, I trip over my feet whenever she gets near me. Don't you think it will be worse at a party?"  
  
Pete laughed. "I best just take her off your hands then."  
  
"Don't even think about it!"  
  
  
  
--------------  
  
That evening Pete stood at the mirror in his room, checking out his profile.   
  
"Peter!" Mrs. Ross called from downstairs.   
  
"Coming!" Pete replied double checking himself.   
  
"How do I look?" Pete asked his older brother, who was throwing a football in the air a few paces away.   
  
"Alright," his brother replied. "For a scrub," He said pushing his brother's head playfully. "Don't slobber on whatever girl gets stuck with you."   
  
"Pete!" His mother called sharply. "Your ride's here."  
  
"Ride?" Pete questioned.   
  
"Didn't you know," his brother said. "Mom arranged for Nell to take you, since Clark wasn't going."  
  
"Lana's aunt is taking both of us?"  
  
"Mom arranged it when she found out you and Clark weren't going."  
  
"This is going to be weird," Pete said.   
  
"The little Lang girl is cute ... for a 12 year old, why don't you make a move?"  
  
"Can't, That's Clark's girl," Pete said.  
  
Pete came downstairs, his mother kissed him and he wiped away the kiss.  
  
"Mom," Pete said. "Don't you think I'm a little old for that?"  
  
"You'll never be to old for a kiss from your mom. Now you be good. If Jacob's parents call me..."  
  
"They won't," Pete said. ('Becase they won't be there') Pete thought while grabbing Jacob's gift and running out the door. Nell's back car door was unlocked. He climbed in the back of the car and put on his seat belt.   
  
"Hi Pete," Lana said.   
  
He turned and smiled at the girl beside him. "Hey Lana."  
  
They pulled off. It was weird sitting this close to Lana. He really had no experience with girls, let alone been this close to a girl in the back of a car. If only Lana had been sitting up front. Clark's girl, he reminded himself as they pulled away from his house. Lana was now starring out the window, not looking at him or looking very enthusiastic about the party. She seemed to be day dreaming, lost in some world inside her head. Suddenly he noticed how the light hit her and seemed to make her, well, beautiful. Truth was, because of Clark, Pete never paid much, if any, attention to Lana. She was off-limits. But right now he couldn't take his eyes off her.   
  
"We're here," Nell said.   
  
Pete shook himself out of the trance, grabbed his present and got out of the car. Then he remembered what his father told him about being a gentleman and came back to hold the door open for Lana.  
  
"Sorry, Nell, forgot my manners for a second," Pete said.   
  
Nell and Lana looked shocked.   
  
"Thank you Pete," Lana said.   
  
"Well, your mother can certainly be proud of you," Nell said. She started the car and pulled away.   
  
"Should we go in... together?" Pete asked.   
  
"I guess," Lana said.  
  
"Ladies first," Pete said and Lana started toward the door. He followed. Suddenly she stopped.   
  
"What's wrong?" Pete asked.   
  
"I don't really want to go."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't, well I don't know him that well. I don't even know why I was invited," Lana said. "Actually I do, I think he kind of likes me and Nell likes dressing me up for parties"  
  
"Really?" he said shocked. "He likes you?"   
  
"Don't sound so surprised."  
  
"It's not that I can't imagine a guy liking you, you're like the prettiest girl in our class, not that I--well--you know"  
  
"It's okay," Lana said. "Let's just go in."  
  
They walked up to the door together and rang the bell. Jacob opened the door. He looked quite excited to see Lana, but his smile dropped when he saw Pete was with her.  
  
"You two together?"   
  
"No," Pete replied.   
  
"Kind of," Lana added.  
  
"Happy Birthday man," Pete said giving the new 13 year old his gift.   
  
"Happy Birthday," Lana said handing him a card as she stepped in behind Pete.   
  
Jacob lead them into the living room. The door was opened between that and the dinning room where the table was laid out with chips and punch and such. A teenage girl (their supervision) was sitting on a couch listening to headphones. Music was playing on the stereo in the room, but the closest thing you had to dancing was a few people kind of bopping to themselves in corners. Girls and boys were separated. A couple of guys called Pete just as a girl called Lana over. He went over to the guys that called him and they started talking.   
  
About a half and hour later (a few more guest arrived by that time), the doorbell rang and it was a young twenty-something guy. Jacob taped his sister (the lounging teenager that was the bad-excuse for supervision) on the shoulder and she got up and greeted the guy. Then she whispered something to her brother and disappeared outside. Everyone had stopped to watch this and continued to watch Jacob after their supervision stepped out.   
  
Jacob smiled, lowered the lights and changed the up-beat pop music to what sounded like Barry White.  
  
"Now it's time for the real fun to start," he said grabbing an empty soda bottle. He kneeled on the floor nobody moved.   
  
"Well, are you all chicken or are all of you babies?"  
  
Everyone looked at each other and cautiously came over making a circle.   
  
"What if your sister comes back?" Lana asked.   
  
"She won't, not for two hours," Jacob said with a special smile for Lana.   
  
Pete noted Lana looked terribly uncomfortable with this situation.   
  
"No quickie kisses here either," Jacob told them. "I'm counting, at least 5 seconds of lip touching. And anyone who's too chicken can leave the circle."  
  
Of course no one would admit they were chicken, so no one moved.   
  
"I think the birthday boy should go first," Jacob said staring at Lana.  
  
He spun the bottle, but he didn't get Lana. Much to Lana's relief it was pointing to a girl 2 spaces to the left of her. Everyone was kind of quiet when the game began, but then they caught onto the game and started laughing and teasing and chanting the count for each kiss. Most had a little shyness when it was there turn. Lana looked relieved every time it missed her. Finally it was Pete's turn and as luck would have it, it landed on Lana. There eyes met across the circle.   
  
"Kiss, kiss, kiss," was chanted by the crowd.   
  
Pete knew he had to do it, but he also knew Clark would kill him if he kissed Lana. That meant he would kiss her before Clark even had a good conversation with her. But he wasn't going to look like a coward. He carefully leaned forward, Lana looked like she was going to run for a moment. But she sighed and leaned forward and met his lips. There lips touched and it was... well... weird and awkward and nothing like TV. Neither one of them knew what to do except keep there lips touching. Yet there was something about that touching that was... warm. They stayed in that position, lips touching, barely moving until they heard someone say five. It was followed by the annoying oohs and ahhs. Pete looked at Lana across the circle and she glanced away, but smiled.   
  
Everyone was bored with the game about twenty minutes later and went after snacks and finally did a kind of group dancing with each other. That's what they were doing when Jacob's sister came back and resumed her place on the couch.   
  
  
Nell picked Lana and Pete up as the party whined down.   
  
"Did you two have fun?" she asked as they got in the car.   
  
They glanced at each other and smiled.   
  
"It was okay," Lana told her aunt.   
  
On the way home in the car Lana turned to Pete.   
  
"I'm glad it was you," Lana whispered.   
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I never kissed anyone and if it had to be anyone at that party, I'm glad it was you. Those other guys creep me out, but you're nice."  
  
Pete smiled. "I'm glad it was you too." (He wanted to add, 'but don't tell Clark').  
  
  
  
  
The next day Clark and Pete stood in the Ross yard playing catch.   
  
"So she was there?" Clark asked.   
  
"Everybody was there," Pete said.  
  
"What was she wearing?" Clark asked.   
  
"Clothes," Pete replied.   
  
"Well I hope so, but what did it look like?"  
  
"I didn't talk to her that much."  
  
"Did you play spin the bottle?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So, you kissed a girl, for real? What was it like."  
  
"Weird," Pete replied "...But.."  
  
"But what?"  
  
"Weird in a good way, I think it stops feeling weird with practice. And you know a guy like me can always find girls to practice on."  
  
Clark laughed. "Did... she... kiss a guy?" Clark ask cautiously.  
  
He thought about telling Clark the truth, that he and Lana had shared a first kiss, but he didn't see the point.   
  
"It was weird, every time I saw someone spin it and thought it was going to her, it didn't."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, none of the boys that wanted to kiss her got her."  
  
"Weird," Clark said.   
  
"I guess you two are meant to be," Pete said. "Me, I have to have me a harem."  
  
"Do you even know what a harem is?" Clark asked.   
  
"Of course I do," Pete replied.   
  
And from there the two boys continued to argue. And Pete never told Clark about that spin the bottle party kiss.   
  
-END-  



	2. The Haunted Farm House

  
Title: The Haunted Farm House 

Author: EV empressvader01@hotmail.com> 

Rating: G 

Characters: Pete, Clark, Lana, Emily (from Accelerate), Greg (from Metamorphosis) 

Summary: Seven year old Pete, Clark, Lana and thier friends investigate the legend of a haunted house. 

Disclaimer: Superman/Smallville belong to DC comics/the WB. 

Feedback: I live and breath the stuff. 

Notes: Where's Chloe? Well, if you don't know, Chloe was still living in Metroplis when she was 8, she moved to Smallville in 8th grade (when she was about 13/14) 

------------- 

Mrs. Ross watched two greasy eight year olds step through the back door with thier fathers, Bill Ross and Jonathan Kent. 

"We got the car working," Bill said kissing his wife. 

"Where's Martha?" Jonathan questioned. 

"She ran to the store to get some potatoes," Mrs. Ross replied. "Please take those boys upstairs and clean them off." 

Bill and Jonathan led Clark and Pete up the steps. 

"Did you hear," Bill said as they ascended the stairs. "Luthor's buying up some old farm houses for some type of housing development." 

"What's with his sudden interest in Smallville anyway?" 

"Who knows, but it can't be good. I guess our boys have lost their haunted house." 

"Is Mr. Luthor going to get rid of the ghost?" Pete asked. "Or will they just live in the new houses?" 

"Ghost don't like new houses," his father told him. "I suspect they'll move on when the bulldozer arrives." 

"But there's no such thing as ghost," Clark added. "Isn't that right dad?" 

"You calling my dad a liar?" Pete asked. 

The two father's exchanged glances. They didn't like to contradict each other in front of the boys and obviously they had told contradictory stories. 

"Uh, Clark," Jonathan said. "What I meant was ghost, like the ones you see on scary movies, don't exist."' 

"So there are ghost?" Clark questioned as Pete sported a self-satisfied smile. 

"Well... " Jonathan said. 

"The fact is Clark," Bill Ross interrupted. "It kind of depends on what you believe. No one's really proven if ghost exist or not, some people believe and other's don't." 

"So, you don't know if there are any ghost or not?" Pete questioned. 

"I can't say for sure, but the Old Man Fray's Farm always gave me a creepy feeling. Now you two go clean up." 

Both boys went to clean up, but the mystery of the old farm was now on there mind. Was there something undead living there and would Mr. Luthor stir it up by building new houses?   


Pete and Clark climbed on the school bus the next day talking about the old Haunted Farm. They had heard a million stories about the place and knew there were a million more. They quickly found there friend, Greg, sitting on the bus reading a book about spiders. 

"Hey Greg," they said jumping into the seat with him. 

"Hi guys," Greg said. 

"Why you reading that book." 

"My dad says he's brining me a tarancula back from his trip." 

"Cool," Pete said. "You hear they going to tear down the old Fray farm?" 

"Won't the Vampires stop them?" Greg asked. 

"Vampires? There are no Vampires, there's ghost," Pete told him. 

"You're both wrong," a little girl said poking her head up over the seat in front of them. "There's a werewolf." 

"How would you know Emily?" Pete asked. 

"Cause Tina and Lana and me heard it," Emily said. "We were in the car with my dad and we heard it." 

"I don't believe you," Clark said. "There might be ghost, but there certainly aren't any werewolves." 

"Fine, don't believe me. Go see for yourself," Emily said. 

"We will," Pete replied. "We'll go see what's really there." 

"You wouldn't, you'd get in trouble." 

"You're just chicken." 

"No, I'm just not stupid enough to go chasing after something that might kill me," Emily said sitting in her seat. 

"She's right," Greg said softly. 

"Why would you listen to girl?" Pete said. Hi next words were in whispers. "Listen, after school, we'll meet at the fort to discuss this." 

"Does it hafta be the fort?" Clark questioned. 

"You gotta get over that fear of heights," Pete said to Clark. 

"It's just, being around there always makes me feel kinda funny," Clark told him. "Can't we hang out in my loft?" 

"Emily might show up. You know she's always over Lana's house." 

"Fine," Clark sighed. "We'll meet at the fort." 

"My dad did put a lot of work into it," Greg said encouragingly. "Be ashamed not to use it." 

"I know," Clark replied.   
  
  


The boys met at the tree house that evening as planned. Clark was dizzy from the climb and the dizziness didn't seem to be wearing off. He always hoped it would get better, but it never did. He barely heard what Pete was planning. He knew it involved using a sleepover at his loft. He didn't like the thought of sneaking out, but he was kind of curious about the old farm house and it wasn't like it was going to be there to explore when he was older. This was there last chance to see how true the stories were. 

Suddenly there plans were interrupted by the rattling noise at the clubhouse door, which was right beside Clark. Two well known faces appeared through the door. Lana in a sundress and wearing her necklace with the green stone and Emily in her jumper. 

"Lana, Emily, what are you doing here?" Pete questioned. 

Clark didn't say anything, because Lana's presence, as usual, only made him more dizzy. Greg hardly ever spoke up in front of the girls. 

"No girls are allowed here," Pete told her. 

"How are you going to tell us what's not allowed?" Emily shouted back. "It's not even your clubhouse." 

"It's a fort," Pete yelled back. "Greg, tell her to go, tell her she and her friend aren't allowed." 

"You don't have to tell us anything you don't want," Emily told Greg. 

"I didn't even want to come in your stinky old club house," Lana spoke up. 

"Then go," Pete said. 

"Fine, I will," Lana said. She looked over at Clark. "Is he okay, he looks kinda sick." 

"He just doesn't like heights," Pete said. 

"Then why do you force him to come up here?" Emily questioned. 

"I don't make him do anything," Pete yelled back. 

"You want to climb down Clark?" Lana asked as Pete and Emily continued to argue. 

He nodded and followed Lana out the tree house door. Greg followed too, wanting to avoid being dragged into Emily and Pete's argument. Pete and Emily didn't even notice there friends had left. The further they got from the clubhouse, the more Clark felt like himself. He still felt a little dizzy, but not as bad as he had before. He felt he could carry on a decent conversation. 

"You know, Pete's really bossy," Lana said. 

"So is Emily," Clark replied as he leaned against a fence. 

"You still look a little sick," Lana said. "Maybe you should go home." 

"I'll be okay in a minute," Clark told her. 

"Why do you let him talk you into going up there if you don't like it." 

"I want to be able to play up there," Clark said. "I love it. I don't know why I feel so weird when I'm around there." 

"You're silly, if being up there made me feel sick, I wouldn't go." 

"Hey, hey guys," Pete said as he came running toward them. "Why'd you leave?" 

Emily arrived with him and whispered something to Lana. They walked away together. 

"Girls are so annoying," Pete said. 

"So we're not going?" Greg questioned. 

Clark was starting to feel normal, or at least normal for him, again. 

"Of course we're going," Pete said. "I dared Emily. We have to go." 

"What did you dare her?" 

"I dared her to come with us. She wants to prove girls are as brave as boys. Lana's coming too." 

"She is?" Clark questioned. 

"Well, if Emily has anything to say about it, she is. And you know how Emily is." 

The other two boys laughed. 

"We better get home," Cark said it's getting late.   
  


*~~*   


The next night the boys gathered for a sleepover at Clark's house. The Kents allowed them to sleep in the loft in there sleeping bags. And they asked to sleep in there clothes so it would feel like a camp out. The boys were still up chatting when Mrs. Kent came up to check on them. 

"Everyone okay up here?" she asked. 

"Yes," the boys said together. 

"Do you need anything else?" 

"We're okay Mrs. Kent," Pete said. 

"Yeah mom," Clark replied. 

"All right, good night," Mrs. Kent said kissing Clark on the head. 

"Mom," he whined. "You're embarrassing me." 

"Okay, I'll make it even." Martha gave the other two boys a kiss and they smiled. Then she left the loft. 

The boys got real quiet and waited patiently for Clark's mother to enter the house. When they heard the door of the house close they got up, grab the book bags they had packed and ran down to their bikes. They mounted them and rode to the edge of the farm where Emily was waiting with Lana. They too had bikes. 

"This is a bad idea," Lana said as the boys pulled up. 

"Where's your necklace," Greg asked Lana. 

"Clasp broke, Nell's getting it fixed," Lana told Greg. 

"Let's get going," Pete said. "We don't have time to waste." 

The children all began to pedal, with Pete and Emily fighting to lead the way while the others just kept up the pace behind them. They had never ridden so far on there bikes, so they found themselves tired before long. Their little legs just couldn't keep up the vigourous pace they started with. Well Clark could have, but he decided to just keep the pace of the others. Lana and Greg both suggested they turn back, but neither Emily nor Pete would back down in front of each other. 

Finally they reached the old Fray farm. They noticed a new white sign perched on the front of the property. 

"Soon to be a Luthor corp development, Pleasentville Meadows," Lana read. 

"Pleasentville?" Pete questioned. "The Haunted house is being replaced by Pleasentville?" 

"Kinda weird, huh?" Clark questioned. 

"I know I'll never live around here," Lana said. "I don't care what it's called." 

They all parked their bikes and headed for the old farm house. Lots of old furniture was sitting in the yard, obviously waiting to be hauled away. 

"Well, whatever's here didn't bother the movers," Clark said. "If anything's here." 

"Well, they were here during the day," Pete said. "Everyone knows monsters only come out at night." 

"And Werewolves only come out under the moon," Emily said. 

"The Full Moon," Greg corrected. "And I'm telling you, its a Vampire." 

The kids went into the house, staying close to one another. Somehow the darkness inside the unknown walls was more frightening then the darkness out there under the moon. The boys pulled out the flashlights they had packed and began scanning the area. They jumped a little at a flutter by the window, but it turned out to be some tattered curtains. They jumped again at a large shadow falling toward them, but it turned out to be an old sewing dummy that was blown over by a gust of wind through the open window. They went upstairs and found a room with three long chest. 

"It is a vampire," Emily said as they entered the room. "This must be where they sleep." 

"So now there's three vampires huh?" Pete questioned. "I suppose it's a mommy, daddy, and baby." 

"Why not?" 

"Only a girl would think that," Pete said. "Besides, those aren't coffins." 

"That doesn't mean a vampire wouldn't sleep in them," Emily said. 

"Well there's only one way to find out the truth," Clark entered. 

They cautiously approached the first chest and opened it up. 

"There's nothing in here but a bunch of old clothes," Lana said. 

Clark and Pete ran to the next one and opened it up. "It's just old pictures in this one." 

Greg opened the last one. "Whoa, check out these army men?" he said pulling out a large tin figure. 

"You know, there may not be any ghost," Clark said. "But this stuff is pretty cool." 

"Yeah, I guess the solider men are," Pete said. 

"And these dress clothes would be fun to play in," Lana added. 

"Only girls--" Pete began. 

"Look a captain's hat," Lana said pulling it out. 

"Can I have it?" Pete said quickly, running over to get it. 

"I found it." 

"Guys, don't you think we should head back?" Greg questioned. 

"Yeah, but lets take something with us," Pete said. "Before they throw it out." 

Everyone rummaged and found what they wanted to take and headed downstairs and out the front door. But what they saw as the door closed behind them, stopped them in there tracks. The biggest dog they had ever seen was staring them down. Now they were young and small, so most dogs looked huge to them. But this dog was twice the size of any dog they had ever seen. It's fangs were dripping with drool, it's eyes were a furious green, and it's claws looked like it could rip them in half. 

All the kids scrambled for the door, but the dog lunged at them. They scattered and dropped all the stuff they were carrying. Pete found the door of the storm cellar and directed everyone to it. They climbed in a shut the door. They heard the snarling dog on top of it and huddled together in a corner holding each other. 

"Told you it was a werewolf," Emily said. 

"It's not a werewolf, there's no full moon," Pete said. 

"Well than what is it then? I've never seen a dog that size." 

"I don't know what it is, but it's not a werewolf," Pet said. 

"You just have to be right." 

"This is no time to argue about it," Clark piped in. "There's something bad out there and we can't get home." 

"Which means we're in trouble," Greg groaned. 

"Better in trouble than dead," Emily said. 

"The bad things go away in the morning, right?" Lana questioned directly to Clark, he seemed to be the one making the most sense right now. 

"I think," Clark said. "You never see monster movies take place in the morning. We just have to wait for light."   


When they fell asleep, they didn't know, but they woke to daylight sneaking through the crack in the cellar door. They all climbed out, feeling any danger that could haunt them at night must have run from morning. They yawned and made there way out the cellar and to the bikes. But they found them destroyed. The bars were bent, the tires flat and there was no way they could ride them ever again. 

"Guess we're walking," Clark said. 

"Clark, watch out!" Lana shouted. 

Clark turned. The monster dog had returned and was preparing to pounce on Clark. Pete suddenly grabbed one of the broken bikes and, with some struggle, tossed it at the dog, distracting him for a moment. 

"Take the girls and run," Pete said to Greg. 

Greg grabbed the girls hands and started as fast as he could up the road. 

"We gotta distract him until we can make a run for it," Clark said to Pete. 

"I know," he replied. 

The boys split up and began throwing stuff at the animal. They were hoping to confuse him enough to find a window of escape. But it didn't work, the dog decided on a target, Pete, and went after him. Clark kept throwing things at him, hoping he would turn around and Pete was struggling to outrun a dog that could match his fastest run in two easy strides. Clark looked desperately around for a weapon to use against the mutt. Pete stumbled in front of an old, tall, metal cabinet. The dog was about to pounce when Clark ran into the cabinet and forced it over. It fell on the mad animal's head and seemed to knock him out. But Clark found out he had been a little slow. He wasn't sure if it was teeth or claws that had done it, but Pete lay on the ground clutching a leg with a huge gash in it. 

Clark ran over to him, supported his weight on his shoulder, and helped him up. Then he started away from the farm struggling to hold his friend. He had hardly gone a half mile when a pick-up truck pulled up next to them. Greg, Emily, and Lana were inside. And Mrs. Jones, the school principal, was driving. 

"Oh my good, what were you kids thinking coming out here?" Mrs. Jones said. 

She helped the boys in the car and then rushed them all off to the hospital.   


A couple hours later the children sat around a hospital bed that Pete occupied. He had a bandaged leg and had a rabies shot to look forward to. At the moment, none of this was bothering him. The girls were doting over him and calling him a hero for tossing the bike at the dog when it tried to attack Clark. Coming back with battle scars only made him look more brave. And as much as Pete complained about girls, Clark was shocked to see he enjoyed the attention so much. Pete's happiness was cut short by the arrival of Lana's aunt and Emily's father. The principal had called all the children's parents, they were just the first set to arrive. And the initial relief that the children were okay only lasted a second. They were quickly yelled at for their foolish actions and rushed from the hospital room. 

"You know, I don't think girls are so bad," Pete said smiling after the girls left. 

Greg and Clark looked at each other and grinned. Their parents came in right behind each other after that. Pete's parents were the most upset by his injury, but still found room to threaten harsh punishment. Clark went home in the middle of him getting yelled at. Most of them only found themselves punished as long as the parents anger lasted, but they were careful to be home on time from that day on. Pete's story of heroism, which somehow grew from the truth to him fighting off a werewolf on his own with only a rusty feild knife he found on the ground, only circulated for a few days - which is also how long his peace treaty with girls lasted. 

When they finally got near the old farm again, it was no longer a farm. The old stuff had been hauled, the house had been flattened and development on Pleasentville meadows had begun. And in years to come all stories related to the place faded. But sometimes, at night, Clark wondered what happened to the dog. Had it recovered and run away? Had they found it and put it down? He supposed he'd never know. But maybe one day he'd understand what turned a ordinary dog into a monster dog.   


END   


10-16-2003 


End file.
